I'm sorry but I have to disagree. Japan are miles ahead of Iran. Didn't you see how shaky our defense was? And also one of our most important players Taremi will miss the next match. Japan on the other hand has very young and motivated players. We are the under dogs.
Well done to Team Melli. CQ has instilled discipline in this team. The real and tough test will be Japan. Excited!
Perhaps “everyone” who is a Saudi fan and butthurt. Otherwise, from what I’ve seen, most of the neutrals on Twitter or Youtube, have supported Mighty Iran so far.
If I'm not wrong Iran haven't conceded this tournament? Don't get me started on missing players that could be in this Japan side.
I think UAE probably fancy themselves against Australia pound for pound especially at home. It'll be interesting to see if finally Japan get off their asses and start playing above 2nd gear like they've looked the entire tournament.
while australia has not been all that impressive, there is no way UAE is even close to them pound for pound. even if they benefit from the referee again, i cant see them advance over australia.
my one concern is our finishing. we scored 12 goals but they were against not so great teams. we were rather wasteful. we will not get as many chances against the likes of japan.
Qatar will be without their best player against S.Korea. Otherwise, I wouldn't be surprised if Qatar in the form I have seen in this tournament getting past both S.Korea and Australia. My own preference, however, would be to see Iran beat Japan and face Australia in the final.
Iran vs Japan is going to be the match we've been waiting for in this tournament - whatever happens after, that's the true duel for current Asian supremacy
We are the true underdog in next match. Japan is just beyond our power. Our guys should punch above their weight for a victory.
Just finished watching Chelsea vs Spurs league cup match, and it's directly followed by the Copa America draw totally forgot Qatar are playing in this along with Japan lol.....
Iran will be champions this Cup. China invested lots of money into soccer. Some progress has been made but not enough. If you want to play defense like Italy, you need good and talented players to play Italy style, not just any players...
You might as well snip that table at the last game, as that's the only one with any relevance to 2019. Even then, I doubt the squads, especially the Japanese one, would be similar. Don;t see how a result from 1951 means anything towards the semi final.
China conceded three almost identical goals! They were the kind of goals I often see in kickabouts played in my hometown, where someone plays a long ball over the top, the opposing team's centre-back has no idea what do do with the ball, loses it and watches on in abject horror as the strikers converge in on his goal. I don't expect Japan to concede like that, not with Maya Yoshida at the back.
Iran - Japan in the semifinals. What a game! I waited for this to happen since the tournament started. In my view both teams right now are far superior to the rest of the continent. I can even see a noticeable gap to South Korea and Australia. The winner of this big clash will take home the big prize. No doubts about that. According to the general sense Japan is now viewed as outsiders against Iran. Even Japan's captain Yoshida said that Iran is the best team of the tournament. This makes it even more trickier for Iran. In reality this is much more like a 50:50 affair. Truth to be told Iran displayed already several good performances in this tournament. I think we already nearly saw the best of Iran. They can't do much better anymore than this. Japan on the other hand did only so much to get by so far. I reckon they barely came out of 1st gear so far. Their aim was it to reach this stage of the tournament in energy save mode, hiding their true strenght. That's indeed the scary thing about this Japanese side. These guys are very talented and can play some amazing Football. Taremi will miss the clash because of a yellow card suspension. Sure, Queiroz built a very deep squad over the years. But Taremi and Azmoun are a formidable duo and understand each other very well on the pitch. Ghodoos, Ansarifard or even Torabi are possible replacements. All very decent players but the level of link up play between Azmoun and Taremi stays unmatched. So I view Taremi's abscence as a blow for Iran. Japan by the way has no players suspended. If the Japanese really start to fire on all cylinders - like I expect them do so now - then they are for me the slightly better of the two and the best team in Asia. Even without the likes of Honda, Kagawa, Okazaki or Hasebe. I expect a very tense and close affair on Monday. I'm pretty sure that Iran will concede for the first time in this tournament. I noticed that Iran starts games in very shaky fashion. Oman, China and even Yemen could have all scored at the beginning. Iran can't afford to start slowly against Japan. Otherwise they will concede very early on. To be honest Iran is long overdue to win an Asian Cup after 43 years. But I feel Japan will reveal their true level on Monday. If I have to pick a winner it is Japan for me. They were also my pre- tournament pick. And I will stick to that.
I agree. Qatar was very good so far. I would have picked them over South Korea but Abdelkarim Hassan and Madibo are suspended. Still not sure what to predict for today's matches.
I agree with the gist of your comments except I am loathe to predict anything about the final at this stage. As for Iran/Japan, I see it as a 50/50 game, with Iran having the edge in terms of being a more solid side including physically while Japan have the edge in the sense they have expended only as much energy needed to get here so far. While Iran's wins have been more emphatic and lopsided, our players have often had to put in all their energy and focus into their games. As you mentioned, Japan on the other hand, has appeared to play never really moving from 2nd gear. They seemed to have just put enough energy to get here, preserving the rest of the tank for the final stretches, which makes it harder to use their past matches as enough of a guide to their match against Iran.
Sardar Azmoun replayed to our player Safaa Hadi. I wish the Iranian fans have the same mentality as their players. Sardar gained my respect
Predictions for today Both clashes are very hard to predict. I think both will go the full distance. Qatar over South Korea in penalties Australia over UAE in extra time
I sure think today's games will be closer than yesterday's... China's backline was so full of holes you could have made a net out it....
So Japan leads the H2H in the Asian Cup with a 1-2-0 record and 1:0 goals scored. So Iran is yet to score a goal.